In business today, the old adage of “information is power” applies to a much smaller extent.

Information is rampant and overwhelming today. The power and value now is in interpretation and what to do with that information, if anything.

Companies need a group of individuals to look at the information available and determine how to turn that information into practical value for the business to predict market trends and — if they are lucky — to help shape them.

I’ve called this innovation channel a number of different things at different companies: The Think Tank, Innovation Roundtable, Office of Innovation, and (the last rendition) the Future Sensing Group.

I’ve used the Future Sensing Group to both generate and test ideas and to filter and evaluate information. Earlier groups were more pure think tanks, heavy on IQ. But as I learned and evolved this innovation channel, these teams became more holistic and had strong EQ (emotional intelligence) as well.

Developing the group

I would typically ask the CEO or my peers on the executive team to give me one or two nominees from each function who they saw as a thought leader, innovator, can-do resource — someone energetic and deserving to sit with similar peers to analyze and test ideas in our business based on multiple information sources.

From a development standpoint, the list of nominees was lengthy. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with a “think tank” group and have that recognition from their executives? So it was pretty easy to pull together.

Patrick Stroh is a president at Mercury Business Advisors, which provides management advisory services in business strategy, innovation, and product development. He is also the author of "Business Strategy: Plan, Execute, Win!" He recently held positions within UnitedHealth Group, including chief strategy and innovation officer, client experience officer, president, and SVP of business strategy. Stroh holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.